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Staedtler Mars Lumograph EE update

With thanks to Staedtler staff in Canada, Germany, and Thailand, there is further news on the EE grade pencil. After the EB and EE grades were withdrawn, Staedtler Malaysia continued making those versions for their market, with graphite cores supplied from Germany. This production ended in 2005. At present, some of the 8B pencils made [...]

The hunt for the EE grade pencil

While I thought the letter pencil grades (“HB”, etc.) were standard, I came across this lament about the end of the barely known EE grade. The web’s best site for researching issues like this is the always entertaining and informative Leadholder.com, which has many vintage drafting equipment catalogs online. It seems that in the 1930s, [...]

Soft lead pencils

Using pencils for writing, note taking, flowcharts, and diagrams, I’ve rarely explored their softest grades, those beyond 4B. Though pencil making details are trade secrets, it is known that graphite and clay are the main ingredients in a pencil’s lead. There are also waxes and binding agents in pencils. At least one pencil has used [...]